BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
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This invention relates to printed security codes which can
be applied to paper/paperboard materials used in the
construction of cartons and containers. Such structures of this
type, generally, provide a simple, low-cost security system
which acts as a shipping manifest, warehousing check list, and
sales conformation.
Description of the Related Art
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Security approaches being used now fall into three
categories: (A) visual/video observation or monitoring of the
act of theft; (B) prohibiting customer contact with items until
paid for; or (C) alarms, if the unpaid-for items are taken out
of the front door. The principles and limitations of each
security category are discussed below.
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With respect to Category A, surveillance is the traditional
method for limiting theft in stores. Initially, surveillance
was only by vigilant employees, but today it may involve
discrete video cameras and/or paid security personnel. This
traditional security approach is losing adherents because of:
(1) increasing cost of maintaining constant surveillance; (2)
difficulty in keeping the entire store under surveillance
because of limited funds or personnel, as well as high, bulky
displays; (3) lost service time and the possible leaving of good
personnel, when employees are diverted from serving to do spying
on customers; (4) limited effect of monitoring, if there is
employee theft; and (5) the fact that monitoring may be resisted
because of its unpopular "image."
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With respect to Category B, this security concept has been
used to minimize having customers physically handle a sale item
until they are ready to purchase it. Commonly enforced
customer-restraint approaches to do this include: (1) securing
items under lock-and-key, sometimes out of view; (2) placing
sale items in a locked, visible display behind glass; and (3)
using catalog showrooms that display single items, usually
chained to a shelf, backed up by a warehouse of packaged goods.
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The use of lock-and-key and glass-displays frustrate honest
customers who have to locate a helpful clerk in order to "see"
items. After these frustrations, most customers are no longer
in the mood for doing impulse buying.
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With respect to the catalog showrooms, these showrooms limit
physical contact to a sample that may be chained. This halts
sales floor theft and damage to sale items, but may
significantly extend and slow shopping. This is because the
typical steps involved are: ordering, warehouse retrieving,
conveying, notification, and verifying/pick-up. The catalog-showroom
approach also results in very "shop-worn" goods that
must be heavily discounted, discarded, or donated to charity.
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With respect to Category C, Electronic Article Surveillance
(EAS) is a recent approach to overcoming customer theft. EAS
employs an embedded, electronic printed circuit in a security
tag/label. This tag is activated by retail employees, the
manufacturer or the shipper before the item is placed on the
shelf. It must be deactivated at sale or else it will set off
an auditory alarm as the item leaves through special exit
"gates." Alarms are typically set off by radio frequency (RF),
electromagnetic (EM), or acousto-magnetic signals.
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Semiconductor-based EAS tags or labels reportedly cost "only
a few cents each," but they are not being used on all items.
They appear usually on items that are expensive and large
(coats, electronics), or less valuable and pocketable (liquor,
tools, pharmaceuticals).
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The present EAS approach relies on catching theft at usual
customer exits, but it does not address thefts by employees or
support personnel. To overcome employee theft, sophisticated
monitoring by cameras and/or limiting movement of sale items by
employees in areas, such as warehouses, may be required. Also,
there is expected difficulty in being "smarter" than dishonest
employees or support personnel who essentially have unlimited
access to these items, know the values of the goods, and will
be able to detect security steps.
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Finally, Electronic EAS circuitry is typically either
inserted in tags attached to an item or hidden under applied
tags that are conventionally bar coded. However, this plastic-laminated,
metal tag resists recycling efforts or can be removed
by diligent thieves.
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It is also known to use tamper-evident security envelopes.
Exemplary of such prior art is U.S. Patent No. 5,727,686 ('686)
to B. Kistal, entitled "Tamper-Evident Security Envelopes".
While the '686 reference discloses tamper-evidence, through a
visible disruption of a plastic sealant or perforation put
between two layers, this detection does not show the step where
the breach occurred such as in manufacturing, shipping, or
employee/customer theft.
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Several references disclose step-wise monitoring, but none
of these discuss overcoming security losses. Exemplary of such
prior art is U.S. Patent No. 3,945,494 ('494) to K. Weber et
al., entitled "Carrier for Film Cartridges or the Like," U.S.
Patent No. 5,706,948 ('948) to D. M. Hughes, entitled "Method
for Identifying a Characteristic of an Object or Contents of a
Container," U.S. Patent No. 5,788,073 ('073) to K. Suryk,
entitled "Shopping Organizer," and U.S. Patent No. 5,238,307
('307) to K. E. Mooney et al., entitled "Ore Sample Bag." The
'494 reference identifies each part of a process by "detentes"
to follow film-processing steps. The '307 reference mentions
tracking the processing of ore through to assay, but ignores
theft. The '948 reference defines maintenance done or needed
using crude mnemonic coding. The '073 reference attempts to
ensure a grocery list is followed and the coupons are used.
However, as mentioned earlier, none of the '494, '307, '948, or
'073 references disclose a means for overcoming security losses.
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It is also known to employ security tagging for doing more
than point-of-sales purchases. Exemplary of such art is U.S.
Patent No. 5,777,884 ('884) to A. M. Belka et al., entitled
"Article Inventory Tracking and Control System." While the '884
reference discloses an article inventory tracking and control
system for library book withdrawals and video rentals, it does
not employ a paper/paperboard security code.
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It is also known to employ various security tags for use in
inventory, pricing, reordering, and shipping to justify its cost
for security use. Exemplary of such art is U.S. Patent No.
5,151,684 ('684) to E. L. Johnsen, entitled "Electronic
Inventory Label and Security Apparatus," U.S. Patent No.
5,671,362 ('362) to A. B. Cowe et al., entitled "Materials
Monitoring Systems, Materials Management Systems and Related
Methods," and U.S. Patent No. 5,774,876 ('876) to W. A. Woolley
et al., entitled "Managing Assets with Active Electronic Tags."
Again, while these references employ security tags that are used
for inventory and other measures, none of the references utilize
a paper/paperboard code for security papers.
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Finally, it is known to employ an informational stripe on
airline tickets. Exemplary of such art is U.S. Patent No.
5,879,784 ('784) to T. J. Breen et al., entitled "Tickets With
Extruded Security Stripe and Method of Making Same." While the
'784 reference teaches the use of a stripe on airline tickets,
this reference does not consider adding an internal stripe or
other type of printed security code into a paper/paperboard
container or carton.
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It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in
the art for a security code which is light weight through
simplicity of parts and uniqueness of structure which adds
monitoring at each step from production through sale, and which
at least equals the security characteristics of the known
security measures, but which at the same time is capable of
being printed on paper/paperboard cartons and containers. It
is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs
in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once
given the following disclosure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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Generally speaking, this invention fulfills these needs by
providing a printed security code assembly for paper/paperboard
cartons or containers, wherein the method is comprised of the
steps of: attaching a paper/paperboard substrate to a security
code, wherein the code contains information related to the
manufacturing of the product located within the carton or
container, the warehousing of the product located within the
carton or container, the shipping of the product located within
the carton or container, the stocking of the product located
within the carton or container, and the retailing of the product
located within the carton or container; and discreetly locating
the substrate and the code within the carton or container such
that the various information contained within the code can only
be observed by a code reader.
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In certain preferred embodiments, the printed security code
can be a two-dimensional code or a stripe code.
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In another further preferred embodiment, the use of the
printed security code drastically reduces the price of security
of the carton or container. This would make security tagging
available for every carton, container and item being sold.
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The preferred printed security code, according to this
invention, offers the following advantages: lightness in weight;
ease of assembly; good durability; excellent economy; excellent
theft protection; and excellent inventory control. In fact, in
many of the preferred embodiments, these factors of economy,
theft protection, and inventory control are optimized to the
extent that is considerably higher than heretofore achieved in
prior, known printed security codes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
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The above and other features of the present invention, which
will become more apparent as the description proceeds, are best
understood by considering the following detailed description in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like
characters represent like parts throughout the several views and
in which:
- Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a printed security
code for paper/paperboard cartons or containers, according to
the present invention; and
- Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a concentrated
printed security code in the form of a stripe for
paper/paperboard cartons or containers, according to the present
invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
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With reference first to Figure 1, there is illustrated an
advantageous environment for use of the concepts of this
invention. In particular, a printed security code assembly 2
for paper/paperboard cartons or containers is illustrated.
Assembly 2 includes in part, container 4, shipping manifest
information 6, warehousing check list 8, and sales conformation
information 10. It must be pointed out that while container 4
is illustrated, the concepts of this invention can also be
applied to any type of paper/paperboard carton or container
including, but not limited to, envelopes, boxes, sheets or the
like.
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As shown in Figure 1, printed security code information 6,
8, and 10 are, preferably, located discretely on container 4 and
consist of a two-dimensional print area 12. In particular,
print area 12 is discretely located, for example, on the inside
of container 4. Print area 12 which contains the information
on manifest 6, warehousing check list 8, and sales conformation
10 is printed by conventional techniques. Preferably, print
area 12 consists of magnetic inks which can be activated or
switched "on" and "off" to indicate the stage the product is in.
In this manner, with the print area 12 being located inside of
or within container 4, the worker or customer is unaware that
the container 4 includes such a theft deterrent and will be
unlikely to attempt to by-pass it. For example, print area 12
can be conventionally electrically charged to activate or to
turn "on" print area 12 and then subsequently conventionally
deactivated or turned "off" by reversing the electrical charge.
To get into this even further, if container 4 has been
transferred from the warehouse to the showroom, the area sales
clerk merely has to scan container 4 and print area 12 in order
to switch "off" the portion of the print area 12 which relates
to warehousing and switch "on" the portion of print area 12
related to retailing of container 4. In this manner, the
security of container 4 is not comprised. Consequently,
container 4 is monitored at each step from manufacturing to
retailing. Also, a conventional code reader (not shown) is the
only device that can scan or observe the information in print
area 12.
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As shown in Figure 2, print area 12 can also be formed onto
a stripe 18. In this manner, stripe 18 can also be placed in
a discrete location in or on the inside of container 4.
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For example, print area 12 can be located adjacent to the
corrugated medium of a corrugated container, within the liner
of a corrugated container or other types of paper/paperboard
containers, or the like.
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In order to further describe the various aspects of the
printed security code, the following potential benefits are
outlined below.
- 1. Manufacturing and Shipping
Security labeling in manufacturing and shipping could help
track items of each type made, packaged and shipped daily.
The secondary value would be in preventing packaging fraud.
Packaging fraud, typically, occurs by removal of a manufacturers'
items for sale or insurance payment or unauthorized
substitution for the removed goods by either goods stolen
in the past or lower value goods that come from a
competitor.The use of the printed security code assembly 2 will allow
the manufacturer and shipper to match codes on carton 4 with
those of the manufacturing and shipping list. If the code
and number sales items match on the carton 4, then no fraud
or theft should have occurred.
- 2. Warehousing and Stocking
As each item is warehoused and stocked, the item is read by
a conventional code reader to help count the number of
items warehoused and stocked. Again, if the code and number
of sales items do not match on the carton 4, then a theft
has occurred.
- 3. Restocking and Monitoring for Theft in the Store
Security codes could be used by a retailer or wholesaler to
monitor items being removed from display. A conventional
reading of the number of items stocked could initiate restocking
or alert for theft.
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Finally, substitution of printed security designations on
a paper/paperboard cartons or containers in place of the
embedded EAS security devices, previously discussed, will
significantly improve overall recyclability of the package.
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Once given the above disclosure, many other features,
modifications or improvements will become apparent to the
skilled artisan. Such features, modifications or improvements
are, therefore, considered to be a part of this invention, the
scope of which is to be determined by the following claims.